Remember to Breathe

 

I am breathing a sigh of relief this morning because the first wave of stress dealing with the Craft Fair has passed. The signs are finished and up and the hall is measured and the table number confirmed. With 5 tables to spare I was able to fit everyone who has sent in money so far. Man, stress stinks! I know that we are suppose to cast all of our cares on God and let Him do the worrying for us, but that doesn't mean we still don't have to get the job done! It is a delicate balance that must be maintained. You can't just sit on the couch with the thought that "God will take care of it." Yes, God will help you with the strength needed, money, time, etc., but the job itself God is not going to do. If you decide to be a couch potato, nothing God has in store for you will ever happen. He is not going to levitate us to where ever we need to go and move our hands and arms to get the task done. God leaves a certain amount of what needs done in our lives to us. So though all of us know that stress stinks, we also know that sometimes it is the kick in the butt we need to get going down the path God wants us. Thought for the Day: Our natural state is in motion, anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to themselves.

Life, It Happens

So a lot of stuff has been going on recently. Audrey made it safely to South Korea and seems to be doing well. The upstairs of our house is slowly but surely getting done. The sinks ready for plumbing in the bathroom and the floor is down in the "blue room"/"someday baby room" as well as all of the trim. We sure got a lot done last weekend. As this weekend approaches I can see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. The work does not end there though. There is going to be a lot of calking to do. In other news, the craft fair I am running with Jamie approaches. Two weeks away and I feel unprepared, but ready to bang out the last minute details. The one that we ran in November was a lot smaller than this one is going to be. Much less to worry about, but I am hoping for a good turnout. I also finished the "abridged color version" of my poetry book "Life's Melody". I do believe it came out rather well, but we will see how it sells. I am still in the midst of illustrating my children's book titled "...", well I don't know what the title is yet, about two families of dragons. I find that it is a bit more work than I first realized, but it is coming along. Still, I am not sure if it will be ready for March 9th's fair or not. We will see what can be done in these last couple weeks. Just finished what I could of Aaron's business taxes. Hoping that I won't have to REALLY do them again this year, please Liberty Tax, have the right forms this time! I know that this post has been pretty random, but that's life, it happens! Now time to fold clothes, make craft fair signs, and clean, clean, clean. Thought for the day: One must find joy even in life's most inane mundanities.

Celebrate Love

 
Now that Valentine's Day and Valentine's Weekend has safely passed I can now cast my thoughts on the subject. I was very surprised at how many negative comments Valentine's Day received on facebook this year. I have noticed mixed reviews in the past, but never anything this one sided. Every single or unhappy person screamed at the world this past Thursday how they didn't need love, didn't need a significant other, didn't need this stupid holiday produced by the card companies, didn't need people around who celebrated this hollow holiday, etc. I for one am a person who thinks of Valentine's Day as a time when you can show anyone you love, you care. It is not just about couples and romantic love. Valentine's Day can be a celebration of love itself. I realize that candy and chocolate is probably not the best way to celebrate the martyrdom of St. Valentine, but the commercialization of this holiday gives us an opportunity to change the tides. Yes, some prefer to not look into the deeper meaning of celebrating love, and do nothing to celebrate other than to give their spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend a stuffed animal. But there are those who take this chance to think about the source. God is Love. So if you REALLY want to celebrate love, you have to celebrate God. Maybe next year on Valentine's Day you can forgo the candy, chocolate, and flowers and celebrate the REASON St. Valentine died instead. Thought for the Day: Love is an amazing thing that most choose to ignore the true meaning of.

Ash Wednesday

Today I attended my first Ash Wednesday service. I was asked to sing special music for the service and realized as I tried to pick out music that I had NO IDEA what Ash Wednesday was about. How embarrassing!!!! At least I thought it was embarrassing at the time, but it seems that most Christians now a days have no idea what Ash Wednesday is all about. Most know that it is the official start of the Lenten season and that people walk around with ashes on their foreheads, but why? Turns out the answer is rather simple. Ash Wednesday is a celebration of our own mortality and brokenness. It is a time when we as Christians reaffirm the fact that we are sinners and desperately need God's forgiveness. The ashes represent the wearing of sackcloth and ashes to show deep, heartfelt penitence. When Pastor Tom placed the ashes on my forehead this evening he said, "From dust you have come, and to dust you will return". It is a scary moment when the realization dawns upon you that your life, in the grand scheme, is nothing but a moment in the story that God is telling with this world. The ONLY thing that gives this short existence any meaning, any goodness, any light, any happiness, any fulfillment is God. If you don't have God you are just dust on the breeze, here for a moment and then gone without a trace. This glimpse of reality without God was eye opening for me. I don't remember a time without God, so for me it is hard to understand a world without light. Look around us. The darkness is closing in. Thought for the Day: Bringing Light to the Darkness in this World is Our ONLY Purpose. 

The Upstairs That NEVER Ends

It has been a long haul when it comes to the upstairs of our house. Two crazy kids (My husband and myself) decided it would be a great idea to plan for kids by making our house roomier. We had decided on a small addition, but a few months later we were living under a whole new floor. The finishing has been in the works for over a year now and I swear my hair is turning gray...NOT because I am getting older, but because of all the drywall/wood dust. We hit a milestone a few weeks ago when we finished the flooring and closet in our "Master Bedroom". This happy occurrence set off a chain reaction of productiveness that lasted a few more weeks. I am happy to announce another mile stone has been reached! The counter top for the bathroom vanity has been INSTALLED! My father who has always been good at woodworking has been making me a custom vanity for our upstairs bathroom. The space is strangely shaped because we had to put the electrical, plumbing, cable, etc. up through the center of the house via a downstairs closet. This left a large pillar in the middle of the bathroom. This did not make me very happy, but my dad made sure that it looked like it was suppose to be that way! He also was able to find space for us to have DOUBLE SINKS!!! We are so close to finishing now that I can taste it! Thought for the Day: What doesn't KILL you makes you stronger.

Marking Time

When you spend half of your life sleeping you hope that the rest of it can be spent at least being productive in some way. It seems that most of us spend our "down time" vegging in front of the TV or computer or some other electronic device. This in and of itself is not bad, but think about what you could do if you just forgo this practice once or twice a week. I am specifically talking about creative pursuits. I do realize that some use technology inorder to express their creativity, but for me there is something more natural about expressing myself by using my hands. Recently I have been trying to tap into my creativity and have been rewarded with fruit. Creating button jewelry, an abridged color version of my poetry book, and the startings of the illistrations for a childrens book about dragons. The thought for the day: what could you achieve if you had "more" time?

A Dream I Had Once

LOST IN AN ILLUSION

 I travel down a dark tunnel.
I walk backwards so that I don’t see,
What is in front of me.
I look behind,
Feeling a warm presence,
A light tap of a hand on my shoulder.
I turn and for the first time,
Look.
I see you.
A misty ghost of a being,
You hold in your hand a simple bud.
You hand it to me and it blooms into a lovely rose.
I reach out to touch you,
To share the rose with you,
But you dissipate and fade towards the end of the tunnel.
I see light at the end and begin to run towards it.
I run until I can’t run anymore,
But the light never gets closer.
I look closely at it and find it is only a small sparkle

dangling on a string.
I follow the string and find you above me.
A single tear courses down my cheek as the rose wilts and dies,
Becoming dry and breaking to dust in my hands.
I look up again hoping to see you,
But you are gone.
I look down the tunnel towards the end,
Then turn and begin walking backward again.